Soldiers of conscience<\/p>\n
Their assault on the central nervous system of Habibie's
\nReform Order, the Attorney General's Office and its temporary
\noccupation has caught security guards, as well as observers
\nwithout a cause like myself, by surprise. In a moral sense it
\nconstitutes a strategic gain by the reform movement started by
\nstudents, who I prefer to call \"soldiers of conscience\".<\/p>\n
The daring maneuver has bared the fact that the present regime
\nfinds itself trapped between its secret loyalty to its
\npredecessor government and promises given halfheartedly for total
\nreform to the student forces and their sympathizers.<\/p>\n
It is hard to see how the present rulers or the \"prisoners of
\nconscience\" -- granted we are talking about normal people, not a
\nslew of politicians -- and that conscience still serves as their
\nguiding star in life. These soldiers of conscience's strategy
\nincludes a march to the residence of the former \"emperor\"
\nhimself, evidently with the purpose of capturing the former
\n\"grand man\". If their aim was to have a dialog, something which
\nSoeharto indicated he would oblige them with, why should they be
\nbarred from doing so?<\/p>\n
It is hard to imagine how the trapped leaders, again in the
\nmoral sense, could come out of the political maze unscratched.
\nThe call for a national dialog, with the aim to put an end to the
\npolitical impasse and social confusion and thus hopefully pave
\nthe way toward economic recovery and international confidence,
\nshould be welcomed if it involved the soldiers of conscience and,
\ninevitably, the new emerging and ousted party leaders.<\/p>\n
Such a national dialog should lead to the removal of other
\nstumbling blocks, like the existence of two factions of the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party. Also the makar (conspiracy to topple
\nthe government) charges against Kemal Idris and Ali Sadikin and
\ngroup must be retracted. A big hurdle that should be removed is
\nthe very ambitious manner in which the functional group (Golkar)
\nwishes to win the next general election at any cost instead of
\nacting just as \"facilitator\". The National Mandate Party (PAN)
\nchairman, Amien Rais, rightly does not want to see the post of
\nGolkar chairperson held by the state secretary, with access to
\nstate funds and other resources.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it was very unfortunate that President Habibie
\ncleverly side-stepped the opportunity to sanction his legitimacy
\nas president by the recent People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
\nNow his position as head of state appears not to have been
\nendorsed even by the old MPR and thus remains a point of
\ncontention. After all, he was chosen by the \"king\" and is the
\nproduct of the king's favor and upbringing with a reformist tint.<\/p>\n
Inexplicably, he is now more repressive and less democratic
\nin dealing with the situation. Perhaps, as a prisoner of
\nconscience, he has heeded the \"warning\" by Soeharto's son Tommy.
\nHe said his father could not be considered to be solely
\nresponsible for bringing about the present crisis. \"Father had
\nhis advisors, Any wrong doing was known to this group.\"<\/p>\n
The capture of the big fish would surely lead to the netting
\nof other fish now still swimming freely or having changed color.<\/p>\n
Instead of hunting for his hidden treasures, the big fish
\nwould better be asked to sign a written statement allowing the
\npublic to get all his wealth if found any time in the future.
\nOther efforts should be to prove his guilt of abusing his power
\nfor economic gain. What is still needed is not an independent
\nteam (with accountability to whom?) but a special tribunal to
\ndeal with a special case of a former president. My guess is,
\nhowever, there are still a number of chickens in the way.<\/p>\n
GANDHI SUKARDI<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soldiers-of-conscience-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }